How to make a custom latest Tweets / Twitter updates Gadget for your blog

Twitter can be a major source of traffic for Bloggers and the evedince can be seen on some top blogs giving their twitter gadgets and widgets prominent positions on their Blogs.Not only can Twitter bring you new unique traffic it's a great way to keep potential return visitors updated.

While most bloggers are using the bland default Twitter Updates gadget you will have seen a few more custom stylish gadgets on your travels.The gadget i have for you in this post will add some spice to your blog and is a step away from the default.

I have used the light blue colors used in the Twitter layout and some nice Twitter icons.

You Can See A Demo / Sample of the gadget on my Demos blog here : Demo Blog

Heres The Steps to get your Latest Tweets Gadget :

1.Click Layout-> Add a gadget for your blog.

2.Choose Html/Javascript

3.Copy all of the code below into the area provided :

YOUR TWITTER USER HERE" target="_blank">

Latest Tweets

Twitter Updates

YOUR TWITTER USER HERE">follow me on Twitter

YOUR TWITTER USER HERE" target="_blank">Twitter.com/YOUR TWITTER USER HERE

Edits:

You MUST now make the following changes to set gadget to your Twitter :

If you need more help or have an opinion or suggestion Please leave a comment Below.. This is a Do-Follow Blog so leaving a comment will also help Your blogs Google rank.

1.Were you see YOUR TWITTER USER HERE replace with your twitter User name
(Make sure to change all 5)

Example : http://twitter.com/paulcrowepro

2.Were you see 'count=3' in the code this can be changed to set how many tweets will be displayed in the gadget.

Example: count=4 count=5 count=6

Once you have made the changes click save and your done.

Your gadget has been added you can now drag and drop it into place on the layout page.

You can Find Me On Twitter Here : @PaulCrowePro

If you get stuck help is only a comment away.What do you think?

My Top Ten Artistic Style Free Blogger Templates

There are now thousands of blogger templates available.A lot of them are very similar and quite boring so in this post i have my top ten templates that are a bit different.All the template are free to use and have been tested on all browsers.

The following templates will get you well on the way to spicing up your blog.

Included are templates with built features like :

►Social bookmark buttons ►Re-tweet buttons
►Email subscriptions ►Search bars
►Read more functions ►Featured content sliders
►Menu bars and more..

Also See - You can't miss our list of the Top 20 Best Premium Blogger Templates.

Lets look at the top ten, click on the title of each template for the demo and download details.

Top 10 Artistic Blogger Templates

1. Victorian - Elegant Blogger Template




2. Creative By Nature - Gallery Blogger Template





3. Kids Style - Bright Blogger Template





4. Back To School - Education Template





5. Puppet - Blogger Template





6. Night Tales - Unique Blogger Template





7. Design Blog - Amazing Sketch Blogger Template





8. Stars - Stylish Three Column Template





9. Vector Flower - Blogger Template





10. Daisy Says - Artist Work Bench Template




That's the top 10 and they all Look awesome.You can't miss our list of the Top 20 Best Premium Blogger Templates.Make sure to check out our top 10 Magazine Blogger Templates and Top 10 Dark And Black Blogger Templates.

Drop Your Comments, Views And Questions below.

Make A Rollover Image Effect - Image Changes On Hover

Attention: This tutorial takes you no more than 2 minutes to learn.

A rollover or mouse over image is a great image effect you will have seen used on lots of blogs and websites. When you use this effect with an image or picture you add to your blog, the image will change to a different image once you hover your cursor over it. It's also a very easy to use and can have so many uses.

Here's a preview of a rollover image. Place your cursor over the image to see it change:



The image is also a clickable link, so you can use it as a link on your blog.

More Examples : Kate the author of Cronicles Of A Country Girl has used this effect to display two versions of photos. In her words "Basically, what I wanted to show on my blog was the original photo, but if you move your mouse over it, you’d be able to see the SOOC version. (SOOC means Straight Out Of Camera)."

You can check out the results here - Kates Mouseover Images

Making Rollover Effect Image

This is the code we use to make the image:

TARGET URL GOES HERE">URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE" onmouseover="this.src='URL OF SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE'" onmouseout="this.src='URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE'" />

You now need to customize the code by adding the images you want to use & the address you want it to lead to when clicked.

In the above code change the following:

1. TARGET URL GOES HERE
Place the address you want the image to lead to when it's clicked.
Example: http://www.spiceyupourblog.com

2. URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE (x2)
Place the URL of the first image here. This is the image shown before you hover over it.
Example: http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/spiceupyourblog/info.jpg

3. URL OF SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE
Place the URL of the second image there. This is the image that appears after your cursor hovers over it.
Example: http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/spiceupyourblog/Blogger-2.png

Once the changes are made, you are done. You can place the image in your blog posts/sidebar or anywhere html can be used.

Tip: Another cool effect for your images you want to check out is The Opacity Blurred Hover Effect.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

Add A Fixed Floating Image To The Corner Of Blogger Blogs

A floating image is an image that will always appear in the corner of your blog even when you scroll up and down the page.In this post i will show you how you can add a fixed floating image to your blog.The image will also be a hyperlink so people can click it and go you any page you want.You may wish to have an Rss Icon for your feed or a link back to your blogs home page.

Live Demo - You Can See An Rss Image In the Top Left Corner Floating Image Demo

Add Fixed Image To Your Blog

1.In your Blogger dashboard Click Design > Edit Html > Tick The Expand Widget Templates Box.

2.Find the following piece of code in the html:

]]>

3. Copy And Paste the following code directly Above / Before ]]>

#float_corner {
position:fixed;_position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;clip:
inherit;_top:expression(document.documentElement.scrollTop+document.documentElement.clientHeight-this.clientHeight);_left:expression(document.documentElement.scrollLeft + document.documentElement.clientWidth - offsetWidth);}

Note - You can change the following attributes bottom :left to place the image in different corners :

top left
top right
bottom left
bottom right

4.Find the following code in your blogs html :

5. Copy And Paste the following code directly Above

Note - You Must change the following attributes :

ENTER TARGET URL HERE - Place the address you wist the image to lead to when clicked here.

Example: http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/

ENTER IMAGE URL HERE - Place the URL of the image you want to use here.

Example : http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/spiceupyourblog/info.jpg

Add A Second Floating Image To Your Blog

If you want to have a second image you will first of course have it in a different corner but you must also slightly change the code.In steps 3 and 5 change float_corner to float_corner1 for a third image you would use float_corner3 and so on.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

What is social bookmarking /How does it work / How can it help my blog ?

Unless you have been living under a rock you will have seen these icons in the blogs and websites you visit.
These are the links to the webs fast growing list of social bookmarking websites.The social bookmarking phenomenon began in the later stages of the 90's with the appearance of Del.icio.us and has kept growing at pace.At the foot of this blog check the list of the most popular Social Bookmarking websites.

So what does it do?

You could see Social bookmarking as "search engine marketing" with a human touch. The information is seen as relevant due to the fact that it has been provided by a human being, rather than assessed by search engines like google for relevancy by a robot and through search engine algorithms.
As most of the individuals who use social bookmarking sites often give points to the content based on its relevancy and usefulness, this human touch is emphasised even further.


How can it help me and my blog?

Social bookmarking can be an awesome S.E.O (Search Engine Optimisation) tool for bloggers.
As bloggers most of us don't have the capital to invest in expensive tools to bump us up the rankings in search results but if you post relative content your readers enjoy with the help of social bookmarking websites you can create a kind of "Word of mouth" Buzz that will
as it feeds off the networking capabilities of the web. The most famous sites have incredible numbers of active followers who are essentially establishing a new trend by getting their news on any particular subject or niche online instead of through other more traditional methods. Social bookmarking sites can be linked and an RSS feed set up, thereby creating an aggregate of news that can be delivered efficiently with very little necessary effort.

Social bookmarking is a relatively new phenomenon. While we can look back to the mid-to-late 90’s for a predecessor, social bookmarking didn’t spring onto the unsuspecting world until the forerunner site Delicious appeared. Social bookmarking sites gather together information, articles and blog posts which are stored, organised and managed according to relevancy, or tags

While it is not always the case, you can build back links to your site by attaching URL’s to your content. There are quite a few social bookmarking sites out there that have a “no follow” policy, which means that the managing personnel involved attach tags to your links that neutralise any SEO advantage you may have otherwise achieved. This does not stop people from clicking through to your site and becoming a potentially valuable visitor, of course, but it means that you won’t gain any advantage in terms of the search relevancy ranking for your page.

If you’re savvy about your online marketing and website development

You can use social bookmarking to great effect. Put meaningful content out there with valid and informative material, and people within the social bookmarking arena will rate it highly. Sharing of content is actively encouraged, and as a user’s network is informed of the existence of your content, the potential to go viral appears.

Make sure that your marketing message is subtle, as with any Internet marketing initiative. Blatant advertising is frowned upon, but relevant links when displayed in a soft-sell way will result in an increase in visitors. Make sure that you accurately attach your tags or keywords, to ensure that your message can be found within this vast Internet world!

Thereare hundreds and hundreds of social bookmarking sites, and you should try and include a plug-in within your site to allow people to easily and quickly bookmark your content. Sites such as WordPress make this very easy for you. RSS feed aggregators essentially summarize blogs and content and allow users to categorize things they find of interest into one easy to find place.

We Are Nearly Finished - First A Quick Reminder: If you need more help or have an opinion or suggestion Please leave a comment Below. It also really helps me with future posts if you let me know if a tip has worked on your blog. This is a Do-Follow Blog so leaving a comment will also help Your blogs Google rank. OK Back to business....

List of social bookmarking websites available :



Phew...So there it is and i really hope this post has informed you as much as researching and writing it has helped me learn more on the subject!

How To Automatically Share Your Blog Posts On Facebook And Twitter

In this post i will show you how to have your blog posts automatically sent to your Twitter and Facebook profiles.This is a great way to keep your friends on both sites up to date with your blog and bring more traffic to your blog.

This is how it works :

Once you publish a new post on blogger, Twitterfeed gets notified via your feed.Twitterfeed now forwards your new post to Facebook or Twitter or both if you wish.

What does it send?

Here's a screenshot of my Twitter page (It looks the same on Facebook) as you can see all the updates / tweets are from Twitterfeed:



Here's how its done:

1.Go to www.Twitterfeed.com

2.Sign up for your free TwitterFeed account.

3.Submit your blogs Rss Feed URL

Don't have a feed for your blog? You should get one: Go to www.Feedburner.com

Follow the easy steps to connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

How To Add A Cool Image Divider Between Your Blog Posts

Video Post - For Extra Help See The Video Tutorial Below The Post.

There are a number of reasons why you may want to place a divider between your blog posts.From the tidy professional look it adds to having a handy clickable image link as your divider or maby your blog looks very cramped or overlapping and you want to space it out a bit.If you don't want to add an image i will also show how to add a simple colored horizontal line as your divider.

Were can you place it ?

You can have your divider directly below the post and before the labels, posted by and comment information or you can place the divider anywhere below your post including below the comment area as the very bottom or before your posts.

Your divider can also be a hyperlink (a clickable link) that when clicked leads to for example you blogs rss feed.

I will show you how to make your divider a hyperlink or just have a decorative divide thats not 'clickable'.


So lets get it done :

First Here are some examples you could use :


Image URL:



Image URL:



Image URL:



Image URL:


You can use any of these images or find your own image on image hosting websites like Photobucket.

Adding the divider to your blog.

1.Click 'Layout'-->'Edit Html' for your blog
(Tick 'expand widget templates' box)

2.Here you have two options

- To put your divider below the post content find this code :

(Basically after the last word of the posts)
Note:If this code is in your template twice place your divider after the second.

If you cant find that just look for data:post.body without the enclose < > tags.

- To put the divider below the complete post find this code:

(Below the labels ,post time,auther..)

(Press ctrl f for a search bar to search for the code)

3.Add the following piece of code Directly Below the code you found from above.






You now must make two change to the code:

1.Were the code above has PLACE YOUR TARGET URL HERE add the address you want the image to lead to when clicked

Example : http://www.spiceupyourblog.com

2.Were the code above has PLACE YOUR IMAGE URL HERE add the link to the image you wish to use such as the image URLs above

Example :http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/spiceupyourblog/divider.jpg

If you dont want the image to be a clickable link just use this code:





As above : Were the code above has PLACE YOUR IMAGE URL HERE add the link to your image.

To use a simple horizontal line as your divider use this instead of the image code:

---

It will look like this:

---

You can change the color 'red' to suit your blogs appearance.

Image Divider - Video Tutorial

More Video Tutorials | Spice Up Your Blog On YouTube

Once code you choose is added click save and your done !!

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

How to Round The Edges Of Images In One Click

Want to do something a bit different with your images? The gadget below lets you easily round off the corners of your images.Further below i will give you the code to place the widget on your blog to provide the same service to you visitors.

Example :

Round The Edges Of Your Images In 1 Click

Enter An Image URL or browse for an image you have saved.

Click Button To Round Instantly.

Image:
or URL:

And here's the code to place the widget in your blog:
 
You can place the gadget in html areas your sidebar,posts etc...

Image:
or URL:

Enjoy...

How To Easily Add 3D Social Bookmark Buttons To Your Blog Posts

In this post i will show you how to add a set of social bookmarking buttons to your posts that requires just adding a simple piece of code to your blog.

Social bookmarking is a vital resourse all bloggers must use.
In an earlyer post i went into detail on the power of social bookmarking Click here for that post.
If you aint got bookmarking buttons under your blog posts Get Them !

They can increase :

Your blogs rank in google,bing and other search engines

Visitor numbers to your blog

Return visitor numbers to your blog

These are the buttons we will be adding :




In three steps you will be clicking save and your Done :

1.Click Layout---> edit html for your blog
(Tick expand widget templates box)

2.Find this piece of code in your blogs html :
(Use ctrl f for a search box to find the code)




3.Now copy the piece of code below and paste it Immediately AFTER the above code

Click save and your done !

I have lots more social bookmarking options Click Here To see a list.
Do you like these ones ?

Top 8 Ways To Get Readers To A New Blog

I suppose there is no point in spicing up your blog if you get no visitors.Getting your blog noticed is not an easy task but there are steps you can take to give your blog a push in the right direction.

Remember you need to keep posting to your blog, this is one of the most used phrases but 'content is king'.Try to publish a post once a day or at least five time a week if you are posting more than once a day try leave a gap between the posting times.

Here is the list of Eight ways to get started :

1. Submit your blog to search engines
Click here to add your blog to Google Click here to add your blog to Bing
2. Get a feedburner for your blog :
Click here to see how
3. Join and submit you blog to Blog Directories :
I will cover Blog Directories in a later post for now here's a great post by Loren Baker on the subject :20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To
4. Leave your link :
Were ever you go on the Internet leave your link. When you Comment on other blogs,Forums etc.. leave a link to your blog. Don't spam when commenting if you don't leave proper relevant comments most will be deleted.
5. Traffic Exchange
If your willing to go the extra mile a resource rarely taken advantage of by bloggers is Traffic exchanges. This will automatically drive traffic to your blog. (Don't use traffic exchanges if your blog has AdSense it is against their T.O.S. and could get you banned)
6. Press Release
Why not create a free press Release. A Press release can get you a good result but only when you do it the right way. If you want to try press release, Click Here for an article on how to write a quality Press Release Here's a list of free press release Distribution Sites
7. Tell your friends online on offline !
Twitter-Facebook-Myspace-Bebo-Friendster there are so many social networks were you can connect with friends and let them know about your blog.Check these two posts to have your blog automatically connect with social networks : Feedburner Connect Twitterfeed Connect
8. Leave your blog link at the foot of all your Emails.
If you like me send lots of funny Emails you can add your blog URL at the bottom of the Email.Most of these emails get sent on again and again and now a link to your blog is been sent with them. Most Email providers like Gmail have a setting to automatically leave a link at the bottom of all your Emails just check out your Email settings.

These are just a short list of ideas and suggestions try to cover as many as you can.I have are more tips to help get visitors to your blog Search Engine Blog Tips.And keep posting make sure there is content there for people to see and remember only good content will bring them back.

Drop Your Comments, Views And Questions Below.

How To Add A Random Post Link To Blogger Blogs

In this post we have a useful script that's easy to add to your Blogger blog.The script generates a link that will bring readers to a random post from your archive.The link can be added to your sidebar or anywhere on your blog and every time clicked it brings the reader to a different post.

How To Add The Random Post Link To Your Blog

Step 1. In The New Blogger Dashboard Click The Drop Down For Your Blog > Choose Layout > Click Add A Gadget > Choose HTML/Javascript > Paste In The Code as shown in the video below :

Note - The text "Feeling Lucky? Click Here For A Random Post" can be changed to whatever you want displayed.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

How to add a Digg button to the bottom of all your blog posts

Adding a Digg this button to all your blog posts is easily achieved.One simple piece of code will put the button below all your posts including your previous posts.

What is Digg? - Digg is one of the coolest websites known to man. Digg is a way for the public to filter through blog posts/images/videos/articles/websites/whatever and determine which ones are cool or not. Digg is also completely free to use. Can u dig it?

How does Digg work? - Digg is like a ginormous voting system for web information. The more people who vote or “Digg” any specific item… the higher it will rise in the Digg rankings.

You can have a digg button in your blog posts in three quick steps :


1.Click Layout-->Edit html for your blog

2.Click the box next to Expand Widget Templates and Find the following piece of code in your html :

(To quickly find code click "CTRL and F" on your keyboard a search box will appear use it to search for the code)

3.This is the code to be added: